father’s day

He is addressed as Babba (Arabic), pai (Brazilian Portuguese), táta (Czech), pappie (Dutch), isa (Estonian), abba (Hebrew), apa(Hungarian), otec(Slovak), tata (Spanish), tad (Welsh) and also using a host of other names in other parts of the world.

In India, pitaji (Hindi), appa (Tamil), tandri (Telugu), pitav (Malayalam), appa/anna (Kannada) and aanu/bappa in Konkani are used. Regardless of the word used, he is the single most important man in our lives. He is loved, respected, and sometimes even feared.

We hero worship our father. Haven’t most of us fought with other boys in our childhood to settle the issue as to whose father is the strongest one?

We look up to the man for practically every single thing in our life. But we also fear him as he is often an enforcer of discipline, or at least his name is regularly invoked by mothers as a last resort to calm things down when things get unruly at home.

Here is an attempt to describe the man:

A father is someone who comforts you when you are in distress, disciplines you when you get unruly, beams with pride when you succeed, and never loses faith in you even when you fail.

Do we ever take time to appreciate what he does for us? We all do, in our own way. But should we do more?

Probably not, considering our parents do not expect anything in return from their offspring except respect and good behaviour. On the other hand, any celebration or activity involving the entire family is a good thing. We just need a good pretext or an excuse and here is a good one.

Father’s day is celebrated on the 19th of June. Let us see how kids can make their fathers feel special:

Spend time with dad: Dads are busy people who are always on the move, working hard to make sure their family is well looked after. Show your appreciation by spending time with your dad - bring him up-to-date about your school, your friends, and bring to his notice any important issues.

Come up with an amusing slogan: Show your creativity by coining a slogan about how special your dad is. Here is a sample: “Some people don’t believe in Superheroes. I say, they’ve not met my dad.” Be creative and be bold.

Help cook your dad’s favourite food: Taking a leaf out of the old saying ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,’ you can help your mother to cook his favourite food. But make sure you do not try to do things on your own in the kitchen without your mother’s knowledge.

Buy dad something special: Our parents always put off buying things for themselves so that children’s needs are met first. If your dad has been wanting to buy something, say, a belt or a pair of jogging shoes, but keeps postponing it, you can help your mother to buy it for him with a part of your own savings.

Take up a small project: There is nothing like having your dad to guide you in a project. He has done it all and he has the expertise.

You can also solve a puzzle, play board games, go to beach, go hiking, go for a long walk, go to the movies, go through the family album together or do things which you know he likes doing.

You can even give him the choice of deciding what he would like to do!

Finally, make a pledge to yourself on Father’s Day that you will always do things that will make him proud of you. That’s probably the greatest gift children can give to their parents.